12/18 - This day in history

On this date in history:

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in the United States.

In 1912, after three years of digging in the Piltdown gravel pit in Sussex, England, amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson announced the discovery of two skulls that appeared to belong to a primitive hominid and ancestor of man.

In 1915, President Wilson, a widower for one year, married the widow Edith Bolling Galt.

In 1972, the United States resumed heavy bombing and mining operations against North Vietnam after the communists refused to agree to end the war.

In 1985, Congress approved the biggest overhaul of farm legislation since the Depression, trimming price supports.

In 1989, a pipe bomb killed Savannah, Ga., City Councilman Robert Robinson, hours after a pipe bomb is discovered at the Atlanta federal courthouse. A racial motive was cited in a rash of bomb incidents.

Also in 1989, the Romanian government sealed the borders amid reports of a deadly crackdown on dissidents.

In 1990, Moldavia became the sixth Soviet republic to refuse to participate in a 10-day meeting in a mounting affront to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1991, General Motors announced it would close 21 plants and eliminate 74,000 jobs in the next four years to offset record losses.

In 1993, Vice President Gore wrapped up a tour of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia -- during which he signed a series of agreements.

In 1996, new rating codes were announced for American television programs.

In 1997, South Koreans elected longtime leftist opposition leader Kim Dae Jong president, marking the first time in the nation's history that a member of the opposition had defeated a candidate of the New Korea Party and its predecessors.

Also in 1997, the six-mile-long Tokyo Bay tunnel connecting the cities of Kawasaki and Kisarazu opened. The project took 8 1/2 years to complete and cost $17 billion.